ASSOCIATION Queensland Branch BULLETINrasurvey.org/bulletins/Bulletin 63.pdf · ASSOCIATION Queensland Branch BULLETIN PO Box 5784 ... Smithwick, Ian Hutchings, Greg Knight, Alex

1

ROYAL AUSTRALIAN SURVEY CORPS ASSOCIATION Queensland Branch

BULLETIN PO Box 5784 Stafford Heights 4053

Website: www.rasurvey.org

MID YEAR EDITION – No 63 AUGUST 2016

CALENDAR 2016 AGM & Annual Reunion – Sat 10 September – Alderley Arms Hotel

COMMITTEE Patron

Lieutenant Colonel

E.U. Anderson MBE

EXECUTIVE President Vice President Web Site Mgr

Alex Cairney Dave O’Shannessy Kym Weston

Ph 3142 0098 Mob 0418 196 566 Ph 07 3205 2756 Ph 07 5313 7975 mob 0438 172 127

email [email protected] [email protected]

email [email protected]

email: [email protected]

Secretary Treasurer Asst Sec/ Treas

Greg Knight Ross Smithwick Barry Lutwyche, OAM

Mob 041 432 1827 Ph 3356 5786 Ph 3264 2191

email: [email protected] [email protected] email [email protected] email: [email protected]

COMMITTEE

Past President Peter Bates-Brownsword Ph 3289 7001 Mob 040 789 7001

email: [email protected]

Bulletin Editor & Historian

Bob Skitch Ph 3350 1550 Brisbane or 5438 0550 Caloundra

email: [email protected]

1 TOPO SVY SQN

Squadron OC Maj Andrew Hargreaves

Squadron SSM WO2 Graham Symes Ph 3332 7564 Mob 043 817 5977

email: [email protected]

Note: Refer Veteran’s Affairs matters to Peter Bates-Brownsword and Barry Lutwyche

NOTICES

BERETS – BERETS – BERETS Stocks are held at Christie’s in Sydney. Be distinctive in the RA Survey Association headdress. Note: Christies can be contacted as follows:

Unit 4D; 1-7 Unwin Bridge Rd, St Peters, NSW 2044. Phone 02 9519 0784

RA SURVEY HISTORY by Dr Chris Coulthard Clark – copies are still available. Contact Secretary Greg Knight

for details.

2

MAPMAKERS OF FORTUNA Copies may be purchased from the Ex-Fortuna Survey Association (PO Box 865 Bendigo 3552) at $60.00 plus postage of $11.50 which includes cost of a padded postal bag.

ASSOCIATION TIE or SCARF & BADGE Cost of tie or scarf is $25.00 plus postage. Association badges are still available from the Queensland Association. Place your order with the Queensland Association. Phone or email Secretary Greg Knight

OUR HISTORY PROJECT – WHAT DID WE DO, 1946 – 1996? Our ‘What Did We Do’ project remains open for further contributions. Have a look and see if you can fill a few of the gaps. Email your contribution direct to Bob Skitch [email protected] or enter your data on our website –

www.rasurvey.org.

MEMBERSHIP Keep your membership alive. Paid-up status for Ordinary Members terminates with the AGM on the first Saturday in September. Annual subscription is $15.00 per year. We suggest that paying three or more years in advance is a good idea.

FACEBOOK GROUPS Daryn Radford has set up a closed Facebook Group Royal Australian Survey Corps (RASvy) open to all to exchange information and photos. Anyone can find the Group and see who’s in it. Only members can see posts. Dave Anderson our own Queensland member has set up another Facebook Group he calls ‘R.A. Survey Uncut’. It can be accessed through the hyperlink

https://www.facebook.com/groups/650449655017119/ or, by following steps suggested by Secretary

Greg as follows: (1) Navigate to Facebook in your browser, (2) In the ‘find friends’ bar at the top type in R.A. Survey Uncut, (3) Pres the search icon. Ed: I find the hyperlink connection the easiest but of course it needs to be copied out of the pdf environment. The website has good content similar to the Darren Radford website with some good sequences of the Anzac day parade.

ANZAC 2016........Bob Skitch

Dawn service at 2CER Enoggera was attended by our President Alex Cairney who laid our Association wreath, Dave Anderson, Rock and Mary-Ann Thiselton. With the reining confusion as to quite how our esteemed Topo Squadron fits into the military structure at Enoggera (1st Intelligence Battalion we understand with the surveying component remaining with RAE) Alex must be commended for establishing that we would even be participants in the Dawn Service this year. But it seems that RAE still welcomes us! Our ANZAC city march participation this year can only be described as disappointing. Only six members turned up at our usual FUP in Charlotte Street and had it not been for the wonderful support we had from 1Topo Survey Squadron we would have presented as a sad old lot. Perhaps the key word is ‘old’. Fellows – we must try to do better! Nevertheless, with 25 Squadron members all dressed in their smart civilian suits we presented a credible marching contingent ably led this year by Dave Anderson marching side by side with WO1 Phuc Tran who ably bellowed the eyes left and eyes front orders on passing the saluting dais in King George Square. The salute was taken by the Governor of Queensland, the Hon Paul de Jersey AC. We had the band from the Mackay high school directly in front of us an excellent, quite large and very competent band (apparently they come to Brisbane every year) but their tempo was rather quick – too quick – and it became impossible to maintain step. (At times I was the only one in step! – Bob)

3

Association members in the City March were: Dave Anderson (Leader), Barry Lutwyche, Ian Hutchings, Brian Cosford, Bob Skitch, Dave & Julie O’Shannessy, ? Wright, LVJ (Les) Smith, now in his 90th year and pushed in his wheel chair by his son Michael. President Alex attended the march, was with us in the FUP and took photos. and from 1 Topo Svy Sqn....

WO1 Phuc Tran, WO2 Matthew Arnold, WO2 Brenton Bailey, WO2 Phillip Simpson, Sgt Steven Neale, Cpl Matthew Bohan, Cpl Stuart Folkard, Cpl Rowan Wade LCpl Derek Hawksworth, LCpl Ayrton Macleod, Spr Shane Brandis, Spr Keiran Bray, Spr Leon Burch

Spr Luis Cruz Sierra, Spr Shan Dooley, Spr Isikell Fukofuka, Spr Leon Gray, Spr Nicholas Heyworth, Spr Colin Hill, Spr Paul Hopkins, Spr Nicholas Jones, Spr Mitchell Kosh, Spr Adam Masi, Spr Aaron McCarthy. Spr Stephanie Thorpe ,

. Received from the Squadron OPS WO – Warrant Officer 2 Brenton Bailey Thanks to you and the other members of the association for providing the opportunity for the junior soldiers to experience the atmosphere on the day. Many of the younger soldiers will not get the chance to march out of uniform and would have missed out on the relax enjoyable inclusive experience that this chance provides in contrast to the formalities and anonymity of being part of a formed body on the day. Your sincerely Brenton Bailey

In front of our banner – Dave Anderson with WO1 Phuc Tran and Sgt Steven Neate carrying the iconic

CTS theodolite

4

The marching contingent – Association members very visible in front Dave O’Shannessy, Ian Hutchings, Barry Lutwyche LVJ Smith with son Michael and grandson.

MORE PHOTOS AT END OF BULLETIN

and at the Alderley Arms Following the march we congregated at the Alderley Arms for a few beers, nibbles and sandwiches prepared by the hotel. Attending the Alderley Arms were: Dave Anderson, Barry Lutwyche, Ross Smithwick, Ian Hutchings, Greg Knight, Alex Cairney, Brian Cosford, Paul (Hutch) Hunter, Jim Gill, Bob Skitch, Mick McCosker, Des Neagle, Ian (Rock) and Mary Ann Thistleton. By 3.00pm most were drifting home, more especially the weary marchers (speaking for myself of course - Bob).

VALE NOTICES

DENNIS CHARLES DUCQUMIN – 1943 - 2016

Dennis Ducqumin tragically passed away on the 8th April 2016. Dennis was diagnosed with cancer in May 2015. At first the prognosis was good after treatment, but it became more aggressive early 2016 and did not respond to further treatment. Dennis had twenty six years in the army, two years CMF (1960-62) and 24 years ARA. After recruit training at 1RTB he was posted to the School of Military Survey then at Balcombe where he marked time for a while awaiting a Basic Course (or was it IET at that time) graduating in May 64 posted initially to 7 Field Sqn then in Dec 74 to E.Comd Field Survey Unit at Randwick. With many others from that unit Dennis was shadow posted to the newly raised I Topographical Survey Troop in November 65. With a detachment of that unit of 15 personnel Dennis departed for South Vietnam in May 1966 serving at Nui Dat returning to Australia in June 67. Over the ensuing years Dennis had a number of postings to several field survey units, (later Field Survey Squadrons), in Eastern Command (Randwick)’ Central Command (Adelaide – Keswick), HQ PNG Command, 5th Military District (Perth), PNG (8 Field Survey) and I Field Survey in Brisbane from where he took his discharge in January 1986. Dennis had 12 months in 1985 in Canberra, Department of Defence Operations Branch, a posting not to Dennis’s

5

liking. At that point he had achieved the rank of Warrant Officer Class One, became RA Survey Corps RSM, an honour not achieved by many in RA Survey. Dennis’s early time in CMF was with 10 Medium Artillery Regiment and its Divisional Locating Battery so perhaps that is where Dennis got his first taste of survey directing him to a surveying career in the regular army. Dennis met and married Lynette in 1976 while serving with 5 Field Survey Squadron. Lyn at the time was a Sergeant and they met at a military function. They started a family and had two sons, Matthew and James both of whom entered the Army, Matthew graduating from the Officer Cadet School as a Lieutenant and serving in East Timor. James is in the Army Band Corps and is a musician of note. Dennis worked for another 20 years with the Queensland Department of Main Roads as a surveyor. Finally retiring in 2007 Dennis and Lyn (in Lyn’s words), followed their dream caravanning around Australia and experiencing many ‘escapades’. They bought their home at Caboolture and lived there for 30 years. Bob Skitch recalls..... I first met Dennis in 1962 when he was filling in time at the School awaiting the start of an IET course. He picked me up from the Frankston Railway Station to bring me to the School for some course or other., He seemed to be driving a little recklessly and I cautioned him to take it easy – I was in no hurry.

Dennis was at Sydney when I arrived in 1965 to raise and man the embryonic topographic survey troop. Dennis was then a corporal. Vietnam was still a long way off. There was no indication that the Troop once raised, manned and equipped would become part of the task force to be deployed to Vietnam – in fact no mention that such a force would be raised. Nevertheless, why else were we there? I guess we all suspected that might be the case – Vietnam in 1965 was on everyone’s lips. With all the shadow posted and loan back personnel drawn together – about forty – from the Regiment in Bendigo and elsewhere we undertook two or three weeks of military training at Holdsworthy under the close supervision of two infantry warrant officers from the 5th Battalion and a sergeant, his worth proven by a Military Medal earned in a previous conflict. The training was invaluable – for me for another reason. I got to know all of the fellows likely to go to Vietnam, if in fact that was to happen. Soon after the announcement was made – we read about it in the newspapers, later confirmed. A detachment of the Troop, not to exceed sixteen personnel would be included in the Task Force of 5000 soldiers all ranks, two battalion and

Dennis – Vietnam Nui Dat 1967 supporting arms and services. I was accorded the privilege of selecting ten of the survey soldiers at Randwick to go, the remaining six posted in from elsewhere and there was no question that Corporal Dennis Ducqumin was to be one of them. A few weeks later we were at the world renowned Jungle Training Centre undertaking our pre-Vietnam three week battle efficiency training. On the 26th May 1966 we departed Richmond air base on a Qantas 707 for Saigon’s Tan Son Nuit airport. My story of Survey in Vietnam is on our Corps Association website and at the Australian War Memorial. I do not intend to repeat it here – but for one paragraph which reflects Dennis and his remarkable generosity. We had all been there just short of 12 months and had had enough. We were counting the days till our departure 13 May. Our chalk comprised Warrant Officer Dave Christie, Corporal Des Ceruti, Corporal Peter Clarke, Corporal Brian Firns and Sapper Derek Chambers. Of our original team that left

6

Australia in May 1966 only Dennis Duquemin was to remain until 11 June. Dennis seemed to show no concern at this and I wondered at his stoicism; but then he had volunteered to remain in place of Derek Chambers who had originally been denied a place on our 13 May chalk’. Derek was being married soon after return – the arrangements were in place. Dennis after leaving the army seemed loathe to talk of his Vietnam experience. To my regret I had no contact with him despite his living and working in Brisbane. Occasionally I might see him at the map counter of the Lands Department. I heard he was ill and resolved to contact him and finally did so on his or Lyn’s mobile phone. Lyn took the call – she was attending Dennis at the Prince Charles Hospital. He was being discharged into palliative care. I was deeply shocked having no idea that his illness was that serious. I spoke to Dennis and he talked of our time in Vietnam. He spoke strongly and told me he had only a matter of weeks, maybe months to go. I received a phone call two days later to say that Dennis had passed away overnight. Dennis’s funeral took place on the 14th April in Morayfield. I leave the final funeral comment to our President, Alex Cairney.... 'Very moving service--Dennis's older son Matt spoke of Dennis’s family life in some detail and at times emotionally and his youngest son James (an army band corps member) gave a very fine rendition of The Last Post on his bugle. Ex RASvy attendees ---Barry Lutwyche, Bob Skitch, Pat Lilley, Grant Small, Ian Hutchings, Kym Weston, Peter Bates-Brownsword, Alex Cairney, John (Shep) Shephard, Paul (Hutch) Hunter, Ian(Rock) Thiselton. From all of us who served in the Royal Australian Survey Corps – Rest in Peace – after a wonderful life. TOM GRICE & JAMES MARTIN (Serving members)

Daryn Radforfd advises...Sad news this week for the Army Geo community. For those who did not know we have lost LTCOL Tom Grice and WO2 James Martin, each after a long battle with cancer. Tom was the last officer to be allocated to RASvy Corps whilst at Duntroon. He was issued all his RASvy accoutrements but was then told that his Corps was disbanding so instead graduated to RAE at the end of 1995. Tom served in many Geo postings which included time as OC 1 Topo Svy Sqn. Tom Grice spent much of his career ensuring that Army received the geospatial support it required. His postings included 17th Construction Squadron, 5th Combat Engineer Regiment, Headquarters 5 Brigade, 1st Topographical Survey Squadron, Defence Science and Technology Organisation, Defence Material Organisation, the Combined Arms Training Centre, Headquarters Joint Operations Command, the Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation, the Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation and Command and Intelligence Support Systems. Many of our officers would have been trained by him when he was an instructor at the Combat Officers Advanced Course in Puckapunyal in 2005-

2006. Tom deployed to Iraq in 2007 and Afghanistan in 2010, 2012 and 2014 filling various roles as an Engineer including specific roles providing geospatial support. He is survived by his wife Michelle and three children. James 'Marto' Martin was a well respected Geospatial Technician and a genuine likeable character. His postings included the 1st Topographical Survey Squadron, 4th Royal Australian Regiment (Commando), Headquarters 1st Brigade, 1st Combat Engineer Regiment, the School of Military Engineering, the Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation, 6th Engineer Support Regiment and

7

the 1st Intelligence Battalion. His career was focussed on delivering Army tactical and operational level geospatial support. James deployed to East Timor in 1999, Afghanistan in 2009 and on the Queensland Flood Assist in 2010. He is survived by his wife Shay-Leah and two children. BURT HURREN Laurie McLean (friend of RA Survey and one time National Serviceman) sent me this on one of our forgotten WW2 Corps members..... I’m currently looking at writing something for the XNatmap website on Burt Hurren who passed away in 2012 at 97 years. Burt served with RA Svy from 1940 to 1948 and was commissioned circa 1943, he got a brief but complimentary mention on p23 of Valerie Lovejoy’s book but not indexed. He served only in Australia including with LHQ Carto Coy Bendigo and with 1 Mobile Litho at Hamilton Q. Burt worked with Nat Map from 1948 to 1976 as OIC Technical Services and was Secretary of National Mapping Council for some years under BP Lambert. Burt had many relatives who served in WWI and WWII including some who did not return. Burt’s record of service can be accessed as follows... http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=6067922

I replied……. Laurie, Attached is the little info that I have found on LT AF HURREN. His entry in the DVA Second World War nominal roll has his AIF regt no. and therefore the enlistment date refers to his AIF service and not his complete service that commenced with enlistment in the Permanent Force - Aust Survey Corps (No. VP7230) as a Sergeant draughtsman on 2 Jul 1940. He was appointed Lieutenant 2 Sep 1943 and in addition to LHQ Carto Coy and 1 Mob Litho he also served with 3 Fd Svy Coy and then discharged from HQ N Comd Fd Svy Sect (Brisbane) 8 June 1948. After the war his service was with the Interim Army. .

NOT SO WELL

John Harrison BEM Bob Ballard has sent this unhappy email.... Just had a phone call from Pam Harrison ...John and Pam attended the Dawn Service at Willunga, sitting towards the rear. When it came time to leave John was unable to stand, with pins and needles in his legs. When they got home, Pam rang an ambulance which took him to Flinders. The result is: he has had a stroke with bleeding on the right side of the brain. He has limited use of his left arm and left leg, with slurred speech and numbness of his mouth. He can still answer questions and has not lost any memory (or sense of humour). I will keep you all informed when I hear more..... Regards, Bob Ballard.

8

BILBY TOWERS – Bob Skitch with help and additional text from Noel Sproles and advice from Grant Small with 1958 photos from Joe Farrington

Who within our Association membership would remember the era of Bilby Towers? They were a remarkable structure of American origin, attributed to a Mr Bilby (nothing to do with the small Australian marsupial) who was associated with the US Coast and Geodetic Survey I think. How they came to Australia I have no idea, but on this incredibly flat continent almost devoid of hills of any significance away from the coast – the east coast that is – Bilby towers more than anything else allowed the geodetic traverses to span across our continent leading to the national adjustment, the creation of the national spheroid, the national origin somewhere in central Australia on which rested the Australian Map Grid (AMG). In subsequent years all this was overtaken by advancing technology and that is another story best told by others – not me! But Bilby Towers themselves – what were they? They were of bolted construction of triangular cross-section (ie, three sided) comprising two independent concentric towers the inner tower carrying the theodolite or Tellurometer and the outer tower the observer and booker on a narrow wooden platform. No part of the outer tower was to connect with or touch the inner tower either above ground or below ground. Each 20 foot section of both inside and outside towers comprised three upright members and six horizontal members and 12 braces, that is, 9 members and 12 braces. For a standard sixty foot tower there were 27 members and 72 braces. Each twenty foot section of a Bilby was smaller than the section before it, the largest at ground level so that the tower tapered to the top. The difference in the length of members wasn’t all that great so unless they were laid out side by side on the ground the difference was not too obvious. The base of each tower sat on and was bolted to a heavy piece of hardwood timber in a hole of prescribed depth (higher the tower deeper the hole). There was also a further ten foot purely vertical extension in case an already constructed 60 foot tower failed to achieve intervisibility with an adjacent station. One 20 foot upright corner member of each set of three was fitted with climbing rungs. A controlled non slip pulley came with each tower to pull all equipment to the top. Constructing a tower over an existing ground mark was especially difficult since it had to be exactly plumbed using a vertical collimator but usually the ground mark would be placed in the ground after the tower was constructed. Many may have seen the Bilby Tower at the School of Military Survey at Balcombe. It had been left standing for several years and its final demolition became a problem since its base logs had rotted and the tower had become unstable and unsafe (so I was told). Bilbys were first used in northern Victoria in the Mallee –Wimmera area in 1956/57 but their first extensive use was on the Charters Towers to Tennant Creek Tellurometer Traverse in 1958 in two locations, south of Richmond on the Richmond plains, probably seven or eight tower stations, then from Camooweal across the Barkley tableland to north of Tennant Creek to join onto a National Mapping north south traverse (not Bilbys). There must have been thirty or more Bilby stations on that section all following the Barkley Highway about 100 metres south of the road. In 1958 our transport was old but reliable GMC two tonne truck usually heavily overloaded – but they took it, and Jeeps. In 1959 the Bilbys remained at the Regiment and I well recall that Peter Bates-Brownsword and I spent some time with all the pieces of five Bilby Towers laid out on the open space behind Fortuna sorting them into five individual towers and each tower into its three separate sections plus extension. The numbering of members had largely worn off in the loading and unloading and most pieces had to be re-numbered in accordance with the book of directions. I believe we may have also introduced a colour code such that each section could be identified by colour and the inner tower distinguished from the outer tower – it was certainly our intention to do so but I am not sure that it happened – one of our esteemed officers opposed the idea. In 1960 it was Bilbys again on certain sections of the Mount Isa to Borroloola traverse. In that year the 2 ½ tonne Studebaker trucks had replaced the GMCs.

9

In 1964 Bilbys were used by N Comd Fd Svy Unit on the Bourke to Charleville traverse but after that not again in Queensland. They may have been shipped to South Australia where clearly there was a need or maybe that need may have been met earlier, maybe in 1961-62. What happened to the Bilbys after 1964 I have no idea – others might. Constructing Bilby’s was not a job for the faint hearted. In the Queensland use of Bilby’s in 1958 and 1960 by the Topo Sqn team from the Regiment headed by our master Bilby Tower erector – Tommy Royle with other stalwarts Bob Thompson, Richard Jackson-Hope (1960) and others from the observing and measuring teams, Malachy Hayes, Don Grey, Kev Moody, Joe Farrington and another bloke called Bob Skitch. I wasn’t there for the construction phase of the Bourke – Charleville traverse in 1963, however, Noel Sproles has filled me in on the Bilby phase of that operation. They really had it easy – things had moved along since 1960. The construction supervisor was ex sailor Paddy Strunks. Noel tells me that OC Jim Stedman commented ‘that if you want to lift heavy things, get a sailor!’ Noel says that they had three field engineers attached and mechanical digging equipment. The engineers dug the holes for the anchors, placed them and did the construction and dismantling all under the supervision of Paddy. One was a bricklayer by trade and did most of the construction of the ground marking on tower sites. Pat had a camp along the highway during the tower phase where people would come for the night. It was called ‘Bilby Motel’ and he ran it like an RSM but it worked.

On the Richmond plains 1958. Note the Jeep to the left. John Van de Graaff sitting on the bonnet then left to right – Bob Skitch, Tom Royle, Malachy Hayes (head sticking up out of a hole), Don Grey. The first site was on a property called Cassilis.

10

Completed Tower at Cassilis – our first! Bourke – Charleville – a completed tower

First Tower underway. Probably Tom Royle and Malachy Hayes on top. Bob Skitch on ground duty. The first 20 foot section of both inner and outer towers has been completed and the corner members of the second 20 foot section are being bolted in place

Our first completed tower. Note: the tower is not on a lean. I could not straighten the photo

Photo to right: Bourke – Charleville traverse 1964. Fully completed tower. Landrovers had

long since replaced the Jeeps

11

THE ‘IRWIN CUP’…….Bob Skitch

At the time I had the privilege of commanding the Army Survey Regiment 1977-1980 I became aware (I don’t think I had been briefed on the matter) that we had an annual target shooting competition with small bore pistols against 42 Survey Regiment RAE in the UK. How did we arrange such a competition against a team so far away? I have no idea who initiated the event, perhaps by one of our past COs; Frank Buckland comes to mind. I don’t think it had been contested for some time – certainly it had never been won by the Army Survey Regiment. Pistol target shooting was not really an Australian Army activity although in Singapore the British Army seemed to indulge in it and I had done so with 84 Survey Squadron RE. Major Iain Whittington was our British exchange officer at the time and he was aware of the competition and after a short discussion we decided to give it a fling. The way it was organised, the British exchange officer supervised the shoot at our end and the Australian exchange officer to 42 Engineer Survey Regiment RE supervised the shoot at Hermitage UK. At the completion of the shoot, and there were all sorts of rules, our paper targets about 30cm square, were sent to 42 Regiment, having been verified by the RE exchange officer with the reverse from UK. It took about a month to resolve.

I was determined that we would win and I found that a member of my Rotary Club was a competition short range pistol shooter. Furthermore Bendigo had a 25 metre indoor pistol shooting range. The gentleman concerned was Mr Milne whose family owned a large rural hardware and machinery shop in Bendigo and I talked him into coaching our team – about six shooters I think. From the previous annual regimental shoot I selected the six who had qualified as marksman or first class shot and with their enthusiastic agreement they practiced under Mr Milne’s watchful eye giving them advice on breathing and better ways to hold the pistol – rather un-military – a ‘cup’ hold I think. I think that Iain Whittington thought that was a bit unsporting but it wasn’t against the rules. The shoot finally took place and after the exchange of targets I was delighted to find that we had won hands down. So the next thing was to winkle the Irwin Cup out of 42 Regiment where it had pride of place in their trophy cabinet – proof that they were better shots than we colonials! As it happened Colonel Hillier was attending the ABCA1 Conference in UK – and I briefed him of the Irwin Cup competition and he left determined to bring the cup back. Needless to say the Poms were reluctant to release it but they did and John Hillier returned triumphantly with the cup where it took pride of place – centre front – in our own trophy cabinet.

The bowl of the Cup is inscribed with the RA Survey badge on the right side and the RE badge on the left side. The cup – solid sterling silver – was a gift to 42 Regiment by Major General B.A. Irwin who was at the time the Director of Royal Engineers Survey and went on to become the Director General of the British Ordinance Survey. He must have been a keen shooter.

1 ABCA – Australia, Britain, Canada America – a conference that took place every couple of years at one of those

locations. I think New Zealand came into it also.

12

The Cup returned to 42 Regiment a couple of years later where it now resides in the silver cabinet of Royal Engineers at Wyton, near Huntingdon. Has it ever been contested again – no one knows but I don’t think so.

A closer view of th bowl of the Cup inscribed with the words THE IRWIN TROPHY FOR SHOOTING –presented by Major General B.A. Irwin with the Royal Engineers badge to the left and the Royal Australian Survey Corps badge to the right. Unfortunately the reflection of the sapper taking the photo is too clearly

visible.

ARMY SURVEY PLAQUE BORNHOLM - WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Sue Cairns , an officer of the Western Australian Commerce Department sent the following email to Richard Jackson Hope who at the time (May 2016) was holidaying in Tasmania... As discussed, a survey marker was found (see images attached) while developing a Telstra mobile phone tower near Albany in the Great Southern Region of Western Australia. It is marked Australian Survey Corps - Survey Marker - No.10. Telstra is very keen to ensure that the site is recorded with the relevant authorities to capture Australian Army history! I am writing a couple of paragraphs about the find in a newsletter and would love to find out a little more about it if possible. How old? Trig point? Any info on this particular piece or similar? Others found in the area? The location of the marker (titled Albany West) is on high ground approx. 30km West of Albany – Site Name: Albany West; Latitude 35.0343; Longitude 117.598

13

The proposed article is to read: ‘A mysterious item uncovered near the Albany West tower site in Bornholm has been identified as an old survey marker from the early 1900s. It was used as a horizontal control point to create topographical maps and charts, specifically placed when the latitude and longitude coordinates were known. The location of each marker was selected so that at least two others would be visible from it. It is likely that there are other markers within 3 to 10 metres of the site. The marker is estimated to be from the early 1900s’….. (Any known or approx. dates?) – Thanks so much for your help. Sue Cairns; Senior Project Officer Department of Commerce West Perth 6005 Richard Jackson Hope referred the query to Charlie Watson in Canberra who responded .....I have searched the National Geodetic Data Base maintained by Geosciences Australia and can find no

Mark maps the spot in early 1900s evidence of this mark .I used all the datam's from astro, Clarke, AGD 66, GDA . I suspect that it dates from around WW2 as previous marks would have been triangulation plaques. The ‘Royal’ would not have been available until at least 1948, but there were probably some ASC plaques (without the ,Royal’) that had to be used up before the new ones came into use. The numbers used for astro stations in the 50's R 502 series usually had a two letter prefix from the 250k map in which the mark waslocated. The number could go back further if a new plaque was placed to replace an old one. Where are the Trig records from WA, Regt or DSvy? Does anybody know? I often get similar requests to this one. WA Survey (whatever name they have now) may have some info….Charlie Watson. And these are the marks...

14

And finally my response – (for what it is worth) I certainly recall using ASC plaques in the mid 1950s and it may have been in 1958 on the Charters Towers-Tennant Creek Telurometer traverse that our plaques contained the word ‘Royal’. When I first joined the Corps in 1955 I was interviewed by the DAD Survey Major Frank Buckland and he spoke about work the Western Command Field Survey Section of which he was OC, was doing in the South West. Even spoke of putting survey stations up high Karri trees – in retrospect a bit fanciful. Of course I hardly knew what he was talking about. My own survey background was railway, setting out curves and re-aligning curves on railway lines. But I was impressed and joined as did 12 or more others. Our 7/55 Basic Survey Course was two thirds West Aussies (‘Sand Gropers’). I suspect both of those plaques depicted were placed well after WW2. Just a chance that the trig plaque may have been pre-war but they continued to be used well after. RASvy was pretty slack in creating and maintaining records – too busy getting on with the next lot of field operations – PNG etc etc......Regards to all....Bob

‘GENTLEMEN – THE QUEEN’ – the traditional toast at the end of a regimental dining night.

Rhys de Laine entered into ‘Facebook’ – “Some of our older Sgts, WO's and Officers may remember this magnificent painting that used to hang in the ballroom at Fortuna. I saw it today again for the 1st time in around 20 or 30 years as it has been hanging in the Bendigo Art Gallery since then”. Ralph Chant kindly provide this link to an entry to an organisation with the name ‘Victorian Collections’

https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/4fbc698a2162ef0f40cbcae9 copied below together with an interesting account of the attempt of that organisation to winkle the painting from the clutches of its various Bendigo custodians. The account was originally published in The Argus newspaper in September 1953.

This is a framed print of th original painting that now hangs in the Bendigo Art Gallery Copy by Army Survey Regiment 1986

15

PAINTING WON'T HANG IN MESS A report from The Argus newspaper dated Tuesday 8 September 1953 BENDIGO intends to keep its big oil painting, "Gentlemen - the Queen" hanging in the Shamrock Hotel in Pall Mall. The painting is on loan to the hotel from the Bendigo Art Gallery. and It's badly wanted at the officers' mess of the Royal Australian Artillery, 3rd Div., in Batman Av, Melbourne. A formal application for It was made, in writing, to the Art Gallery by Brigadier W. Hall, commanding officer. But the Bendigo Art Gallery members at their meeting yesterday said "No"; lending it or giving it away would "create a dangerous precedent for the Gallery," Mr. W. Little, the Gallery's curator, said "Brig. Hall has erred in thinking the men depicted in the painting are artillery men. They are officers in the Duke of Connaught's Light Infantry. But in Melbourne last night Brigadier Hall, keenly disappointed, said: I have been told the picture was painted in the Royal Artillery mess at Woolwich, in England. I have never doubted the men are artillerymen, because they wear the gunners' blue mess jacket, scarlet cuffs and scarlet waistcoat." ED. The jackets look ‘red’ to me!! Rhys de Laine’s Facebook entry excited several comments from various Regiment members who well

remember ‘Gentlemen, The Queen’.

Grant Doran believes... “Us plebs (ie, ORs) only got to see it when we were serving you lot! (ie, officers sergeants) I

wonder what it was actually worth?”. Ed – wrong Grant – many all ranks functions were held in the ‘Ballroom’ eg ‘Bones night’. Daryl South remembers... We had some Tavern functions that used the ballroom. Also remember doing some prints of the painting - they have a framed copy of the print at the Mess here at Blamey Barracks.

Marg & Mick Ellis I remember doing reproduction of it, for its reprint Peter Barrett states... It was the original hanging in the ballroom. Guess value today over £600,000. In addition to this we printed several other Bendigo Art Gallery masterpieces. As Mick said they were colour separated in litho from high quality colour transparency. Sadly all the repromat went to the silver recovery when they cleaned out the big shed. Another story.

Stuart Midgley I think a "3 cheers for Litho!!" would be in order right about now.

Ed – I am sure we all agree Stuart! Finally, how did the Regiment come to have the original of Gentlemen. the Queen hanging in the Ballroom? This is the story as I remember it...... Major Peter Eddy in 1978 was responsible for the acquisition. He knew Doug Hall who was the recently appointed curator of the Bendigo Art Gallery. The frame was in poor condition with large chunks missing. WO Max Neale repaired the frame remarkably well. So how did such a painting come to Bendigo in the first place? Apparently in the late 1890s the citizens of Bendigo having raised an amount of money to buy an appropriate painting of merit from the ‘Old Dart’ to hang in their fledging art gallery sent their representative to England to make the selection and purchase. Apparently in the 1890s all things British were unpopular especially the British Army and the officer class. The hapless person returned many months later with the said painting. It was hugely unpopular with the Bendigo populace and it went into store for a number of years and somehow it finished up on the wall of the Bendigo Drill Hall near the railway station. Now hanging resplendent in the ballroom of the Regiment in the 1980s or later its value (also two other paintings that used to hang in the Long Room) was ascertained and the Regiment was told they would have to be insured - at considerable cost - far more than Regimental Funds could provide so they were all returned to the gallery - post-haste! I was CO at the time of the acquisition!.....Bob Skitch

16

SHADES OF THE PAST - Colonel John Summerfield Hawkins 1812 - 1895

Ed: Australian early colonial history contains many accounts of the early ‘explorers’ of Australia, many of whom and certainly the ‘successful ones’ were surveyors. The various Surveyors General were significant figures during that pre-federation period. Of course there is the redoubtable Major Sir Thomas Mitchell (1792-1855) our only surveyor general to fight a duel over a matter of professional honour. Fortunately both missed their mark but Mitchell was demoted to ‘chief surveyor’ by an unimpressed colonial government. The following was sent to me by Colonel Mike Nolan RE (ret). I have extracted it from the ‘Military Survey GEO Newletter 59/2016’ (also hyperlinked to our own website) It concerns a little known military surveyor (at least in this country) who was called upon to exercise his surveying skills in Tasmania. Born in 1812 and like all Royal Engineer officers, was a ‘Gentleman Cadet’ at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, where he learned his trade as an engineer, becoming a 2nd lieutenant on 12 Dec 1834. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 10th January 1837 and then to 2nd Captain on 1st April 1846. He was advanced to Captain on 1st April 1852. On the 19th July 1852, one Sergeant and fourteen other ranks embarked for Van Diemen’s Land on board the "Lady Montagu" as a guard over convicts, in conjunction with a detachment of the line under the command of Captain J.S.Hawkins, RE, they landed at Hobart Town Tasmania on the 11th December 1852. The Lieutenant-Governor of the colony applied for the assistance of the sappers to constitute, the nucleus of an efficient survey body, and to carry on, both in the city and the distant bush, the trigonometrically and detail survey of the settlement. The men, eleven of whom were married and had

families, were selected from the survey companies, and were all competent for the duty both as surveyors and draughtsman. After a service of nearly four years in the triangulation and survey of Tasmania, the detachment quitted Hobart Town on the 9th February 1856, and landed at Sydney on the13th, for similar duty. Hawkins was promoted Major in 1858 and having been given command of the Land Boundary Survey of the 49th parallel British Columbia was advanced to Lieutenant-Colonel. Career:- 2/Lieutenant – 12 December 1834; Lieutenant – 10 January 1837; Captain – 1 April 1846 Brevet/Major – 14 June 1858; Lt/Col – 12 August1858; Brevet/Colonel – 12 August 1867. Major/General – 6 March 1868; CO Engineers in Barbados 1870. Lieutenant/General – 1 October 1877 K.C.M.G. – 24 May 1881 Appointed General (Honorary on retirement) – 1 July 1881 and died at Malvern, 10 Jan 1895.

17

Major Cecil V. Quinlan

Ed: There is no photo of Quinlan

in Australia’s Military

Mapmakers – this is the only one

I have seen.

MAJOR CECIL VERDON QUINLAN – compiled by Bob Skitch

To most of us, even those who profess an interest in Survey Corps history, C.V. Quinlan remains a somewhat shadowy figure of early Corps history. Where did he come from and where did he go? We certainly know he was the embryonic officer commanding the Australian Survey Corps at its creation on the 1

st July 1915 and Dr Chris

Coulthard-Clark in his Australian Military Mapmakers makes reference to Quinlan on some ten separate occasions, from 1912 to 1938 (pp 16, 18-20, 23-4, 26-7, 59, 61). Quinlan had only a limited time with the Corps at its inception, from July 1915 to January 1916 – six months, although he had served as OC of the Survey Section RAE from March 1913 to June 1915 following Lieutenant W. L. Witham. Quinlan’s departure caused little regret in the army hierarchy since he was seen as argumentative verging on insubordinate. Coulthard-Clark gives some account of this. Perhaps Quinlan felt that the newly formed Corps of less than twenty personnel was a backwater and not too likely to be involved in the real war which was at its height in 1915. Quinlan clearly had a passion for the Middle East as is attested below and his career suggests he was an adventurer at heart. Interestingly there is no reference to C.V. Quinlan on internet. He certainly went into relative obscurity in retirement during the 1930s although remained an advocate for the Corps’ mission in mapping. My UK friend and valuable contact Colonel (ret) Mike Nolan RE sends me the occasional reference of interest concerning our Corps perhaps incidental to what he may be researching but which he feels may be of interest to we Aussies. One such reference recently received from an archival book titled Survey under the British Mandate in Palestine (published post WW2) refers to C.V. Quinlan on several pages and I have transcribed the relevant

passages below....

The transitional period....(1919) The second step was taken when the command of OETA (S) for the first time published the Cadastral Survey Ordnance(1920). This ordnance was intended to make surveys in the Gaza and Beersheba districts possible by giving the surveyors authority to enter private lands in order to measure and stake out boundaries of parcels with the aim of implementing a cadastral survey. We have only fragmental information on the detail of the activities of the Palestine Survey Department during the final days of OETA (S) . An Australian survey officer, Major C.V.Quinlan, Officer Commanding the Survey Section of the Royal Aircraft Establishment and the Australian Survey Corps from 1913 to 1916 was temporarily seconded from the Sudan Survey Department in order to set the Palestine surveying activities in motion. Quinlan began work in June 1920 and in that same month asked OETA Finance Department to publish a tender for surveyors on behalf of the Department of Surveys OETA (S), Gaza. This was published in the Official Gazette of 25 July 1920. Other information on the department is connected with discussions held in 1922 between Winston Churchill and (Herbert) Samuel and the Army Council regarding coverage of the financial deficit left by the military administration. In the statement of expenditure for 7 November 1917 to 31 March 1920 by Samuel there is no budgetary item dealing with ‘Survey’. For the period between 1 April 1920 and 30 June (the last day of OETA administration, however, a survey item appears with the following budgetary movements: income 115,340 Egyptian pounds: expenditures, 9,427,920 Egyptian pounds. Apparently the latter sum exceeded that anticipated by 694,417 Egyptian pounds. We have no further information

regarding the sum; possibly it was used for the cadastral surveys.

18

The administrative and legal basis for conducting surveys was laid down by the establishment of the Survey Department and the enactment of the Cadastral Survey Ordnance. (ED: the paragraph continues without further reference to C.V. Quinlan) On page 55 the Directors of the Survey in Palestine are listed with the statement During the twenty eight years of the British Mandate six directors headed the Survey of Palestine. The first listed is Major C.V. Quinlan.....June to December 1920 – Director. A short CV is given of each director. Quinlan’s reads as follows: Cecil Verdon Quinlan (1880-1947) came from a background in survey in the Gold Coast of West Africa, in Malaya and in Sudan. Despite reservations regarding the worth of his African diploma as a licensed surveyor, on the 17 March 1913 Quinlan was appointed Officer Commanding the Survey Section of the Royal Australian Engineers with the rank of Lieutenant. When the Australian Survey Corps was formed he served as Officer Commanding from July 1915 to January 1916 with honorary rank of captain. In January 1916 Quinlan joined the Egyptian Expeditionary Force and served in Sudan and Palestine where he became staff officer. In June 1920 he was appointed as Director of Surveys, Palestine, most likely as a provisional post, since he was based in Gaza and served only six months. Coulthard-Clark on page 61 of Australia’s Military Mapmakers makes a final comment on Quinlan... ‘One of those who publicly aired such views (that Mapping Australia should be stepped up) was Major C.V. Quinlan , former OC of the Survey Corps, who from his home in Melbourne wrote feature articles for several major newspapers in which he argued.... ‘The question arises whether it should not be advisable to create a new department to deal with all aspects of this vital necessity to our security and economic development. An ordnance department or department of topographic survey ....exists in nearly every country. Its duties are to supply authoritative maps and take full control and responsibility for their preparation. The establishment of an ordnance survey would obviate overlapping of a multitude of authorities and the piece-meal system followed in Australia which has resulted in a patchwork of maps of varying degrees of accuracy. Great expense has been incurred by laborious and out of date methods, duplication of areas surveyed, delays due to conflict of interest – and in the final result a meagre and unsatisfactory return for the time and money expended. From a scientific or economic aspect, the system stands condemned and compares unfavorably with the excellent work carried out abroad’.

Coulthard Clark then comments – Quinlan was not attempting to devalue the work of the Survey Corps but instead praised it for the only maps of real value so far. The problem as he saw it was simply that the lack of personnel and money had limited the corps’ efforts, and there were few men in Australia outside the Corps who were qualified or trained for the special work entailed.......

Ed: The term ‘ordnance department’ and ‘ordnance survey’ is a British term reflecting the British Ordnance Survey, a name that lingers on in history. It had its origin in the Napoleonic wars when the Ordnance Corps or Department was a convenient body to be charged with the mapping responsibility. These days and for many years the British Ordnance Survey has been concerned only with the mapping of Great Britain. Its previous overseas activity is the responsibility of the British Overseas Survey and of course military mapping remains the responsibility of the Royal Engineers. Until about 1980, the British Ordnance Survey although a civilian staffed department was headed by an army major general. It is now headed by a civilian. But the term ‘ordnance’ in relation to mapping tends to linger on in its application, even to our own Australian maps in the minds of some.

An interesting and very relevant letter addressing the issue of the Cadastral Survey of Palestine from the General Headquarters of the British Expeditionary Force dated 19 June 1920 to ‘His Britannic Majesty’s Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs – Foreign Office, London is photo copied next page. It makes specific reference to Major C.V. Quinlan...

19

20

21

ANZAC 2016 – BRISBANE CITY MARCH

At the start – Leading the parade The WW2 ‘jeeps’- carrying the older veterans

The Association members who made it – Our leader Dave Anderson; Our President Alex Cairney; ? Wright Dave O’Shannessy, Ian Hutchings, Bob Skitch, Brian Cosford. Barry Lutwyche also present and LVJ (Les) Smith.

22

Four stalwarts from 1 Topo Survey Squadron

LVJ (Les) Smith – with son Michael and grandson

23

On the march with leader Dave Anderson stepping it out, WO1 Phuc Tran & Sgt Steve Neale – the iconic

theodolite bearer.

Our marching column – more or less in step. Those members of the Association I can recognise – Dave O’Shannessy, Ian Hutchings, Barry Lutwyche LVJ Smith with son Michael & grandson. The distant beret

is Brian Cosford. Where was Bob Skitch? Taking the photo of course.